A trio of injuries, including to creative defender Jack Buckley, has taken the shine off St Joseph’s claiming the GFNL minor premiership.
In a contest impacted significantly by a solid northwesterly wind, Joeys ended the finals hopes of Colac with a 28-point win, 13.6 (84) to 7.14 (56).
However, despite earning the week off with direct entry into the second semi-finals, St Joseph’s may be forced into three changes for its meeting with either St Mary’s or Leopold.
Buckley (hamstring), veteran forward Cam Tudor (wrist) and young gun Jack Leonard (lower leg) all failed to see out the contest.
Watt is preparing to be without Buckley for the second semi-final.
“We’re not quite sure how bad it is,” he said.
“I’m hopeful it might be two – maybe three – weeks.”
Tudor avoided a fracture to his wrist but suffered ligament damage, while Leonard hobbled from the field in the final quarter.
“I thought it was season-ending, but it might be a couple of weeks.”
Captain Alex Hickey is a chance to return from a syndesmosis issue for the second semi-final, with Joel Edwards and Ollie Hanneysee to come into the selection frame.
St Joseph’s was the only team to capitalise significantly on the wind, with a four-goal burst late in the first quarter proving to be the difference in the contest.
Into the breeze, Watt was happy for his team to play the territory game.
“I probably encouraged our guys to bang it along the ground a bit more rather than kick it up in the air,” he said.
“It was hard to scramble a kick out of stoppages at times because there was so much pressure around the ball.
“For the football purist who came to watch, they’ll go, ‘This is boring’.
“But, as coaches, you go, ‘Well, these boys are having a real go’, and they’re trying to do the things you’re wanting to implement.”
Colac also had to contend with its own injury problems.
Essendon VFL speedster Bailey Scott, linked with the vacant coaching role at Colac and District club Colac Imperials, suffered a hamstring injury during the second quarter.
Also in the first half, Aaron Walters was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured cheekbone.
“I just said to the boys in the rooms, ‘That’s footy. Sometimes, when you come up against these good sides – Killa’s (Watt) got them flying – you need a bit of luck. It’s like finals; you need to be healthy, and you need a bit of luck’,” McSparron said.
“Every time we came up against a good side, we seemed to go one down early.
“So, we lose Bailey Scott (hamstring) early, Aaron Walters looked like he’s got a fractured cheekbone.
“From there, you’re trying to shuffle the deck.
“Against a good opposition, you need those things to go your way.”
Colac gave itself some hope of snatching an elimination final berth when late goals to league-leading goalkicker Adam Garner and star ruck Zach Zdybel kicked time-on goals in the third quarter, cutting the margin to 20 points.
However, despite having final use of the window, any hopes of a Tigers upset were quickly snuffed out by St Joseph’s five-goal hero Max McLachlan, who kicked the first two majors of the final term.
“It saps a little bit of that momentum you take into three-quarter time that we worked really hard to get back,” McSparron said.
“We thought we negated the third quarter really well, and we kept the ball over on that defensive side.”
On a tough day for forwards, Max McLachlan was clearly the standout.
His five goals took his season tally to 29, third only to Paddy DeGrandi and Hunter Lewis at St Joseph’s.
Luke Webb won plenty of the ball at the other end of the ground, while James Hickey and Harry Smith were busy in the midfield.
Joel Cooper was Colac’s only multiple goalkicker, finishing with three for the afternoon.
Garner was held to only one goal, but it was enough to become just the second Tiger after former Jake McGuane in 2014 to top the GFNL goalkicking.
An inaccurate Bell Park will play in the GFNL finals for the first time since 2017 despite losing by 10 points to St Mary’s in a low-scoring contest at Hamlyn Park.
The Saints came out on top, 7.4 (46) to 4.12 (36), in a match impacted by the strong northwesterly wind that impacted numerous matches across the region.
With the game in the balance at three-quarter time as St Mary’s held a three-point lead, the visitors kicked 3.0 to 1.5 in the final term to complete a 17-1 home-and-away season.
Sam Bourke kicked three goals, and Brayden Ham contributed two.
Charlie Sprague and the returning Jarryd Garner were standouts.
In his first GFNL game since Round 3, Geelong Falcon Kobe George kicked two goals for the Dragons, who were best served by ruck Ollie Bridgewater and midfield gun Hamish Lucas.
St Albans farewelled outgoing coach Alex Tortora on the right note as it held off a final quarter charge from Lara to claim a 12-point win at Bisinella Oval.
Leading by 30 points at three-quarter time, the Supersaints had to withstand a four-goal final term from the Cats before registering a 12.10 (82) to 10.10 (70) victory.
Hayden Elliott kicked an equal-season-best four goals and was well supported by a three-goal effort from Nick Sinkinson.
Bailey Brogden, Sam Donegan and Brock McDonald were influential in the St Albans performance.
Ben O’Brien and Brodie Cambridge battled hard for Lara, which is expected to announce its replacement for outgoing co-coaches Shayne Stone and Devon Smith in the next 48 hours.
Tom Gunther finished his season with 23 goals after kicking three majors.
Qualifying final-bound Leopold has spoiled the farewell of Newtown & Chilwell great Matt McMahon and coach Damien McMahon by overcoming a 34-point quarter-time deficit to register a 38-point victory at Elderslie Reserve.
The Lions warmed up for their meeting with St Mary’s after outscoring the Eagles 14 goals to one after quarter time, 15.10 (100) to 9.8 (62).
Jake Pitt and Sam Scott kicked three goals for Leopold, who were among the Lions’ best, along with Tate Porter and Logan Wagener.
Matt McMahon and youngster Tom Beckworth kicked two goals apiece, with Braden Hocking and Ned Harris among the Eagles’ best.
A five-goal haul from Tom Gillett was the highlight as Grovedale had the better of North Shore by 69 points at Burdoo Reserve.
Despite the absence of star forward Mitch Chafer (dislocated shoulder), the Tigers had too many weapons to record a 16.8 (104) to 4.11 (35) victory – their fifth of Jacob Spolding’s first campaign in charge.
Harry Purcell kicked two goals for the Seagulls to finish with a career-best 30 for the season.
Jackon Carmody was the standout as a miserly South Barwon handed Geelong West a 91-point hiding at McDonald Reserve.
Carmody kicked six goals in his best return in front of goal since the opening round of 2022 as the Swans confirmed its finals berth with a 16.11 (107) to 2.4 (16).
Fraser Fort contributed four goals for South to end the home-and-away season on 56.
X: @krockfootball
